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The Waitress & the Truck Driver

Calla Urbanski and Rocky Marvel won US titles and represented the United States in the 1992 Winter Olympics. The media played up this pair to the hilt - the working-class "waitress and the truck driver". They trained in Newark, Delaware, about an hour's drive from my home here. Rocky grew up in Brick Township, NJ, about ten miles south of here. The local media gave this pair saturation coverage at the 1992 Olympics - coverage that was well deserved, as they were the US national champions, and they were successful against the odds - she being employed full-time as a waitress, and he operating his own trucking business.

There were no silver spoons in this pair's place settings. They were hard working, middle-class young people who bucked the system and won.

Of course, truth to be told, they were way, way out of their league at the Olympics. They missed their side-by-side double axels in their short program, and their long program was marred by several mistakes. Still, they skated at the Olympics, a feat that is a real accomplishment for any pairs team.